Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 04 November 2020
The motion asks Parliament to call
“on the Scottish Government to publish all the legal advice it received regarding”
a judicial review. In my speech I will, inevitably, cover some of the same ground as the cabinet secretary, because his argument exposed the deep flaws that are at the heart of the Conservatives’ position.
The Conservatives lodged the motion despite the fact that they are more than aware that in the United Kingdom it is the law officers who are responsible for providing legal advice to the Government. Moreover, successive Governments of all political persuasions have observed the long-standing convention that the advice that they receive from the law officers is not disclosed outside the Government; indeed, Murdo Fraser himself made that point in his opening speech. The convention is one that the Conservative Government at Westminster adheres strictly to, with the clear rationale for the convention being well understood—that it enables the Government to have access to full and frank legal advice.
That position is well laid out in the “Scottish Ministerial Code: 2018 edition”, which states:
“Ministers may acknowledge publicly that they have received legal advice on a particular topic, but must not divulge either who provided the advice or its contents (whether it is from the Law Officers or from anyone else). This applies to all forms of legal advice”.
The code goes on to say that the
“approach is required in order to take account of the public interest in maintaining ... The right to confidentiality of communications between legal advisers and their clients”.
Of course, it is true that exceptions have been made in regard to publicising such advice in truly exceptional circumstances, such as the UK going to war in Iraq, or in major public policy areas, as has been pointed out by the Deputy First Minster. However, I submit that the case that is being put forward by the Conservatives does not meet the bar of exceptional circumstances or major public policy. I think that the Conservatives and, indeed, the whole Parliament know that to be the truth.
In lodging the motion for debate today, the Conservatives also knew full well what the Scottish Government’s position would be, because that position is well established.
Given those circumstances, the question has to be asked: what are the purpose of and motive behind the Conservative motion? Given the background, the only possible conclusion that can be reached is that its purpose is an ill-conceived attempt to precondition the outcome of the committee inquiry into the Scottish Government’s handling of the harassment complaints, and that the motive is an attempt to politicise the process and undermine the credibility and position of the Scottish Government, no matter how futile that attempt might be.
To exacerbate matters, the motion has been lodged during a coronavirus emergency that has now killed more than 47,000 people in the UK and, sadly, claimed the lives of almost 400 people yesterday, with 50 of them in Scotland alone in the past 24 hours. However, there is an important Conservative motion for debate today, in the name of Donald Cameron, in relation to Covid-19 deaths in care homes. I say to the Conservatives in all seriousness that had they devoted all their time to a motion that was concerned with the Covid-19 emergency, people in Scotland might have taken their concerns more seriously.
However, the truth has been bared for all to see: the Conservatives would rather indulge in political stunts than properly address the real and deep concerns of the people Scotland about the Covid-19 emergency.
15:30